BALLS OF FUN AT NEW PLAYGROUND

Designed for playing, climbing and hiding, the spheres have made their home in a public park in Stockholm. Vårbergstoppen is a constructed hill in the southern suburbs of Stockholm. The artificial landscape was created in the 1960s using masses from the construction of the new subway lines. City landscape architect Holger Blom leads the work of creating the two artificial peaks surrounding a perfectly round crater with a diameter of 100 meters.

The perfect geometries of the constructed landscape served as inspiration for the work, designing a bird-watching tower, viewing platforms, signs, and playground equipment for the public park. As the suburbs of Vårberg and Skärholmen are being densified, the City of Stockholm is developing the landscape into a park with activities for all ages. A new playground is located near the entrance of the park, aimed at children of all ages.

A large orange ball has landed on the steep slope of the hill. It appears to be rolling down but is safely anchored to the ground. The perforated metal filters the light from outside during the day, and at night the illuminated interior lets out a soft glow. In the winter it acts as a starting point for the sledding slope, and in summer it works as a destination for little climbers of the hill.

The younger children in the sandbox can hide in three smaller spheres, made from solid wood and placed at a safe climbing height. One sphere has a slide, another one has a little bench and small holes for peeking out. The wooden spheres are machined from solid pieces of fir using a large CNC router. The inside is painted orange with linseed oil paint, and the outside is treated with linseed oil to withstand the hardships of the Swedish winter.

The project is made in collaboration with Land Arkitektur, who has been responsible for the overall landscape architecture of the playground.

Images via ArchDaily.